Greatest Force on Earth
by NeoMark
Summary: The adorable girl squirrel comes across a cute male that catches her fancy. He's unlike any other boy she's ever met but everything about him just draws her to him. She wants to show him he doesn't have to be shy and will do whatever she can to finally be with her love.


It was time. It was the season. She waited for this day.

As an animal, she knew what she needed to know. She knew how to survive and what to do as she made her way through life. She had to find a mate.

So, she decided to venture out.

She had a desire to find a male who interested her. There were a few males she came across, but none caught her interest.

None of them had the look or smell that made her feel like they were a perfect choice. When she encountered one, they showed their interest with a smile, but while she did smile back, she turned away. This left the male squirrels confused, but they didn't pursue any further as another squirrel female would soon show interest.

She feared that she might be a bit too picky. After all, this forest was only so big.

That's when she heard something.

"What's what?" She said in her chirping language.

It sounded odd. It reminded her of the giant pink things. They sometimes came into the forest with their large tamed wolves. They were usually scary. However, she didn't fear that sound. She was, in fact, curious.

She followed the sound with interest. She hoped from the branch of one tree to the branch of another.

She never came out this far from where most squirrels were before. Those that did come were usually the very old and desperate. Such as the chubbier elderly squirrel who has long since gone past the age of breeding, yet still yearned for a proper mate.

Still, that sound caught her interest and she wanted to see what it was.

That's when she saw something coming towards her. As she got closer, it started to look like a squirrel. It was a young brown/blonde squirrel.

She had a smile on her face as the squirrel got closer, hoping that it was a male. She kind of liked this one's fur, it looked cute.

Then she came face-to-face with this squirrel.

"Why hello." She chirped. She sniffed and liked the smell of him. It smelled very nice. She took a moment to study his face. He was rather cute, and it made her smile. "You're a boy."

This male squirrel smiled back.

That's when he did something a bit out of the norm. He was about to go past her. Interested in this one, she stepped in his way.

"Hi there." She greeted.

This surprised the male.

He moved back and tried going to his left, but she simply motioned along with him.

"Is this a game?" She chirped. When he didn't react, she simply thought he was bashful. It made her giggle and hop a bit. "Adorable. You seem nice, are you looking for a mate?"

The cute squirrel boy then spoke to an older male squirrel. She surmised that this must be a relative of some kind, though he looked odd with blue coloring and a smaller version of those bizarre objects some of the pink giants wore. She couldn't understand what they were saying. These two must not be from this part of the forest.

Still, it didn't stop her interest in him.

They soon went to another branch. They stopped and looked to her for a moment and she followed him.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

He turned to look at her and then moved his arms around. She smiled, thinking he looked even cuter when he did stuff like this, even if she still couldn't understand him.

His face got closer to hers as he spoke in his strange language, but she felt her little squirrel heart fluttering around him and she knew how she felt around him.

"I like you your smell." She said as she began sniffing him again. She really liked his scent and got even closer. "I really, really like you…" She said as she kept sniffing him, already having thoughts about the two of them living in a nice hole in a nearby tree, with several little infants together. It made her giggle.

She smiled at the thought and even more as she continued to smell this male squirrel, whom she hopes will become her mate.

"I think that you're cute."

While he and the old squirrel kept talking in gibberish, she kept sniffing. Upon noticing how close she was, he placed his paws on her nose and pushed her back.

She kept smiling.

"Is this a game? I wanna play too..."She said as she placed her own paws on his nose, imitating him.

He then used his arms to get her arms off him, confusing her. This didn't upset her, as she wanted to play more. "Darling." She complimented as she found him endearing. So she took his paws and placed them back on her nose, to let him know that she still wants to play.

She giggled before moving to the other end of the branch and looked back to him.

"You're fun! Come on, let's play more!" She called, inviting him.

He didn't move yet. He just stood there. She decided to take the initiative.

"Don't be shy."

She went back to him and grabbed his paws.

'Come on, don't be afraid…" She said as she tried to grab his paws but he kept pulling out. "I like you and want to play with you too!"

He looked back to the older squirrel and said something in their odd tongue, but she paid no attention. She just wanted to play with the squirrel she has decided will be her mate.

Once he moved both of his hands out of her grip, she took advantage of his attention being to his supposed relative and leapt towards him.

"Come on! Let's play together!"

He just kept trying to get out of her grip. She was surprised, but found it cute.

He then moved behind the old squirrel, hiding from her.

"Come out, Silly!"

Still he was being shy, and she wasn't bothered. If anything, it made him cuter and much more worth it.

She tried to get his attention, but he hid on the other side. She then quickly turned and faced him with a big smile.

"Yay!" She said, declaring her intent to be with him. She followed him around. "I like you! I like you a lot!" Soon they raced each other around the old squirrel, who moved out of the way.

It gave her the opportunity to pounce on him.

She grabbed the twig nearby and waited a moment.

"Okay…" Once he came , she pounced on him. "I got you now, Beloved!" She said as they were tumbling. Once they stopped, she felt excited. This boy was just fun to be around. "That was fun!"

He got up, and spoke gibberish to her and turned away, about to leave.

She smirked, realizing that this male squirrel is a lot different from the other males she has come across. She likes him.

She really, really likes him and she is not going to let him get away from her.

She grabbed him by the tail, pulled him closer and soon used her tail to cuddle him, using the oldest and most effective trick in squirrel flirting.

She knows that this male squirrel is different from the others and she wants him for her own. She likes him a lot… maybe even love him.

"Hey you…" She said in a flirtatious sing-song tone.

He got out of her tail and started making those strange sounds again but it didn't change her feelings for him.

"I like you…" She said as she got closer but he took an inch back. "I love you." She said again and he repeated those actions. He spoke his odd words again, but she simply thought she should show him he doesn't need to be shy with her. "Ooh…" 'She cooed as she grabbed his face and made him face her.

She decided then and there to pull of what she learned was the most effective method to show a male you wish to be his mate and it always worked.

She kissed him quickly on the lips, three times.

She liked kissing him and she wanted to do it again. Still, she wanted to see if that worked. She even batted her eyes in a flirtatious way. That worked for her mother and even other squirrels.

However, her shy little love got a little skittish, wiping his mouth and soon got out of her tail once again. He then pushed her and her tail on top of her and soon run off.

"Cute... so shy!" She said, in a giggling tone.

He's playing hard to get. Something I never expected. Well, I'm up for the challenge.

She then caught up to him, pushed his tail on him and then pushed him down and soon went to his face.

"I got you this time! It's just so adorable!" She said before giggling.

He got up, spoke to the old squirrel in that strange language and soon started scratching his head. She didn't understand why, but thought of helping him out by scratching that spot as well. He swiped her arms away and spoke to his elderly companion.

Seeing an opening, she decided to continue showing her love for him by nuzzling on his chest. He quickly got shyer and tried to push her away, but she moved between his arms and pulled them in, making it look like he was holding took him a moment to let go and she felt he was starting to return her affections. He tried to get away from her, but she once again tried to hold his paws. She figured he wanted to keep playing. So she reached out for his paws again. She wanted to play the game they were playing when they first met. She put his paws on her nose again and giggled before running off. She ran around the branch again a bit before returning. She saw he had disappeared. She looked to her right, thinking he might just be hiding out of bashfulness. That's when the elder squirrel winked and pointed to his tail.

"He's here?"

She came around and reached out for his tail. She started pulling him out, reaching with her paws until getting a hold of his face. Holding onto the hairs on his cheek, she pulled him up to her face and held it close. She closed her eyes and thought of fond ideas of the happy life they will share, the infants they will have.

His shyness kicked back in. Clearly he's not used to a girl as pretty as her into him. He pulled out and tried to keep her hands away. He managed to keep both of her hands away for a bit and seemed to have smiled.

She looked happy he was smiling. She figured he was having fun as well.

This made her so happy that she gave him two quick kisses on the lips.

This surprised him and made him let go as he ran and went further up the tree. However, she was far more agile and fast, able to get in his path before he could even get to the middle of the branch. He looked back and, for some apparent reason, stood up and held his paws out. She thinks she knew the reason and went underneath to come in and hug him tightly.

As the elder squirrel kept making some odd sound, she held onto her beloved. He managed to squirm out and attempt to play some more.

She wanted to play more, so she reached out and grabbed his tail to pull him back again. He got up and yanked it out of her grip and ran again.

She decided to go underneath, sneaking up on him on the same branch. She came to the top and waited for him. He didn't see her as he stopped to notice she wasn't behind him. But when he turned around, their noses touched. He inched back and looked a bit annoyed, but she paid no mind.

"Cute!" She said playfully. He ran off. "Yay!" She followed him.

As she got closer, he tried to swat her away. However, their added weight made the branch weaken and bend. He was hanging onto the tip as she held on with ease.

She probably should have wondered why he's acting so un-squirrel like, but she found the look in his eyes so lovely to care. Also, this was a rare opportunity.

She hopped onto a lower branch nearby.

"Here I am!" She says as he shouted something she was sure was just him being shy. She wanted to make him less shy by showing her love for him.

She jumped up and hugged him. She loved the feeling of it so much she tightened her grip and hummed happily.

This made her beloved let go. They rolled on the branch before they resumed their chase.

Usually it was the boy who did the chasing, but this change of norm was exciting for her.

"Can we keep playing?!" She called out. He resumed the chase as he circled up a tree and she followed. "This is so fun! Right?" She laughed. He jumped off a branch and she followed. "Whee!" She almost had him that time. "Wow! You still wanna play? You must really like me! I like you too!" She said. "Darling!"

Her adorable mate made a jump for it. However, to her horror, he overshot it and began falling. To her relief, he grabbed the sides of the tree and slid down before landing atop a sleeping owl. She was worried at first, but the owl didn't attack him. Instead, it made an odd sound no bird ever made. It sounded like her squirrel mate's odd language. Perhaps he, the elder squirrel and this owl were from there.

Then she saw him trip over a woodpecker in her nest. As he dealt with her rage, which was admittedly his own fault, the red squirrel planned ahead. She went into the trunk of a tree he was headed for as cover before he even noticed. She was going to make her presence known, but she wanted to make sure he was safe from the woodpecker first.

Once the bird was gone, he looked out. She could see him looking around and she knew it was her he was looking for. She felt a rush of joy that this meant he felt the same way.

_Aw, he's looking for me. He really does like me._

So, she got up.

"Darling!" She said.

His shyness and seeing her came back. He attempted to go, but she held onto his tail. This pulled her out of the tree.

She didn't even try to pull him back or follow, she just held on and hopped as to go along with him. Even as he jumped onto another branch, she held on and was propelled up as he kept running. He looked back at her, making her feel excited to see he seemed concerned, likely for her. His looking back made him not see that same woodpecker, landing on top of her. She was a bit surprised for a second after she let her beloved's tail go, but she did smile again as she watched him deal with this bird before she resumed their chase. He also landed on top of the owl before jumping up to climb the tree.

As the owl was distracted, she jumped onto his belly then continued her chase. She ignored the owl shouting in his odd tongue, likely in anger. As she resumed her chase, she saw her beloved use a branch to swing down in such an odd manner, but she brushed that aside as she figured he couldn't think straight with the woodpecker chasing him. She just leapt off. Thankfully the woodpecker left.

He was so adorably clumsy that he went onto a branch he clearly wasn't capable of climbing on. She couldn't help but giggle as she had much better precision while she climbed a clearly more stable branch to get closer.

Her love was now within reach.

With some level of luck, he was able to get to another branch. However, she wasn't far behind. She followed him still.

Then, out of exhaustion, he was slowing down. She was too full of energy, no doubt due to love, and caught up to him.

She leapt at him and they rolled down the branch until entering a tree's hole. Once inside, she was nuzzling her cheek on his He still tried to crawl out, but she surprised him with getting a hold of his face.

"Darling!" She said before giving him another, much longer, kiss.

Her darling squirmed and tried to get away, but she held on tightly. Eventually, she let go just to enjoy the feeling of his lips again.

Still on top of him, she smiled down as he looked up and tried to get up.

She held onto him again.

"Don't be shy with me, Darling!" She said. "We are here, together! We can be mates for life!"

He seemed to have calmed down. Perhaps her love for him finally showed him what he meant to her. She was happy, very happy. She hugged him tightly, keeping his arms from getting out. So he used his legs to start climbing out. She giggled once he got out, thinking he still had some energy to play.

She held onto his tail again, allowing herself to be pulled along. They kept going until he stopped and pulled his tail out of her grasp.

She took advantage of his distraction when he tried to get away by going from the underside of the branch and hugged him once again.

Then, to her delight, he held her back.

She was so happy she looked up and him and grabbed him by face and kissed him two more times.

He reacted as he usually did, trying to step away.

This shyness kept drawing her in.

That's when he smiled at an idea he had.

He immediately put his hands on her nose.

The made her smile as he pressed her own hands on his nose and giggled again.

"You silly!" She once again ran off and did her little spin around the branch. Once she stopped, she saw him disappeared.

"Aww… still wants to play like that? Okay! But we should really get started so that we can start a family together!"

It was their way. At the age of 2 giant years, she was ready to meet her mate and one true love. Now she's found her true love and was looking forward to life with him.

She went higher on the tree and looked around. She saw the older squirrel with another female. It looked like they were kissing and playing together. She was happy, she saw that she wasn't the only one to have found her destined love. She then climbed back down and started sniffing the air.

"Hmm… he can't have gone too far." She said to herself. She started to pick up his scent, his comforting scent. She smiled. "He's not far."

She started going in his direction when she looked down and saw something that made her worry.

_A wolf._

She had to be careful as she kept going, hoping he didn't see her. She also hoped he didn't see her mate. That's when she heard it.

The odd language of her love, but she recognized his voice. She also recognized that it sounded like he was in danger. It made her drop her usual smile as she followed the sound of his voice and saw what made her gasp in horror.

He was hanging onto a branch that was breaking, and the wolf from below was now beneath him.

"Oh no! Eep!"

She came running for him, this time to save his life.

"Hang on my love! I'm coming for you!" He saw her and reached out to her as she tried to get a hold of his paw. "I'm here!"

She tried her best to pull him up, but the boy was taller, a bit older, and heavier than her. Slowly, she lost her grip and the tree branch broke off right then and there and fell.

The branch hit the wolf, but her darling had his tail stuck underneath it. The wolf saw and stopped his attempt to get away as it stepped on the branch.

She wouldn't let this stand, she won't let this beast harm her beloved.

"Get away from my love!" She yelled. She came running down the tree as fast as she could as the wolf prepared to eat him.

Once she got to the ground, she came charging with no hesitation or fear.

She screamed in anger as she jumped onto the wolf's leg and, despite not being a carnivore herself, started biting down on his leg.

This actually hurt the wolf, as evident by his wail in pain, but it made her his target instead. She let go in time before the wolf could chomp on her and started running for her life, while giving her darling a chance to try and break free.

She kept running until they reached the cliff. They jumped off and, after the wolf failed one more time to get her in his mouth, she landed on his back and jumped in time to reach a nearby tree.

She was able to reach the tree and pull herself up, all while glaring down at the awful wolf for his attempt at eating them.

_Serves him right._

Seeing him roll down, land in the river, and get stuck in a log, did not make her smile even as it was a humorous way to be defeated. As he was drifting down the water, she was already up and yelling down at him.

"Stay of away from us! Hmph!"

With him gone, she looked to her beloved. Seeing him melted her rage and brought a loving smile to her face. She put her paws together and fawned over him before rushing to be with him.

"He's gone, now it's just us!"

She was running to him as he tried to pull his tail out. She jumped at him and hugged him. The force of her jump and hug pulled his tail out.

She held him in her arms and began nuzzling into him.

He wasn't running or squirming, he just remained still as she continued her loving embrace. And she loved it.

"Now we're together…" She said as she held her head up and looked lovingly into his eyes.

She saw no hint of fear or shyness. It made her little heart skip a beat.

She hugged him tightly again and she began nuzzling into his chest.

"Mmm!"

She feels like she finally had proven to him he needn't be shy. She was more than willing to face a wolf for him. And as she kept hugging and nuzzling, all she could think about was the future they will have together.

_My darling and I are finally together. We'll be together for life. We'll have adorable little babies together who will learn how we met and how I showed him it was okay to not be shy and how much I love him._

She thought of how many children they will have. 9 is the usual maximum amount and already she thought of how many combinations of her red fur and his blonde fur. She thought of how many boys or girls they will have, but all that mattered what they were their children.

As she kept nuzzling, he could feel how soft, comfortable and right he felt.

_I never want to forget this._

She was already hoping they could be together soon. Soon, they would have their children and live together. She felt that he was finally comfortable with her love and how much they were meant to be.

She was so joyous that she didn't hear the sounds of a squirrel screaming and what sounded like a giant. She didn't even look up when her beloved spoke out. She figured it was kind of declaration of love, especially since his next words were quieter and quicker.

She believed that this was him admitting he loved her back.

She loved him for his cute look and behavior, as well as his shy but playful attitude. She proved her love by standing up for him, willing to best their natural predator for him.

There was nothing that could stop her from protecting him, playing with him or being loyal to only him.

She was so interested in their future that she didn't even hear that giant's calling, poofing, or the fact that she was no longer on the ground and was hugging something much larger than a squirrel.

Then she heard what sounded like her darling, only louder and from above.

This snapped her out of it and her eyes widened.

She looked up and saw she was hugging a younger giant.

As he was speaking in that odd language and sounded like her beloved, she climbed up his leg and landed on his knee. She had to blink as she looked at him, and looked around. All the while his scent reached her nose without her needing to sniff.

There was only one explanation.

"Darling?" She asked. She even blinked again just to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

He spoke again. She didn't understand it again, but it sounded similar to something he said and he seemed to be sounding like he's trying to tell her something.

She couldn't understand it and just jumped off, climbing up a nearby tree and stopped at a small, broken off branch. She looked down with a sad expression before blinking just to make sure what she is seeing is true.

Her beloved darling is actually a boy of the giants.

She quickly thought back as she realized he wasn't being shy, he was avoiding her. Her affections were actually one-sided. How this was even possible didn't occur to her, only that the love of her life wasn't real.

_He was never real... he wasn't playing hard to get. He wasn't playing at all._

She sobbed at that thought.

He approached and said something, likely an apology, but she couldn't understand a word he said. She couldn't understand a word she said, she never did. All she understood was her love was one-sided for a squirrel who never existed.

That thought was too much for her.

_I...I can't stay..._

"Ooh…" She climbed up the tree and headed for the hole near the top and sobbed. Her eyes were shut with the tears about to come out. "Ooh…" She entered the tree and let her tears out after a sob. "No…" Tears were coming out after a sob. "No…" She gasped. "It's not true!" She sobbed.

She kept crying, unable to let go of her confusion and sadness.

_How was this possible?!_

She could hear the sound of another giant who sounded like the elder squirrel. Likely, he was another of these shapeshifters.

Despite her current condition, she climbed up and saw them leaving in the direction of the odd stone cave from miles away from their location.

She noticed the older giant, but her eyes were only on the boy.

A tear fell from her as she looked him in the eye.

She saw those same lovely eyes, but realized now that they were never a of a cute squirrel boy, but a giant.

It made her sob once again.

"Ooh…"

She looked down at him with another tear out her eye. She could still only see him as her darling.

She can't get that image of her mind even as he looked regretful of what happened. She knew he wasn't trying to hurt her, but he still did.

He turned away and walked, speaking with his elder in the direction of that stone object.

She climbed out and wanted to watch him go, her still pining for him despite all this.

She made it to the top of the tree, which was without leaves, lifeless. It was as dead as her chance at love.

She didn't have any resentment, only a wish that their love was real and true.

"Goodbye my love…"

She said as she watched him go, sobbing one more time.

She remained at the top of the tree long after he was out of sight.

Since that day, she wasn't very eager to find a mate anymore. She'd never explain why, only that who she first gave her heart to wasn't what she thought. She sometimes thought of going to that odd place where the nearest giants live, but knew it wouldn't mean a thing. After all, he is a giant and they age much faster. She and he may be of similar age ranges now, but by next year she'd be much closer to adulthood.

However, fate would have it she would meet a potential mate who did catch her fancy, but sometimes, she'd look to that stone structure and hope to see him, at least one last time.

After all, when a squirrel chooses a mate, it's for life.

She couldn't stop feeling some degree of love for him.

After all, it was the greatest force on Earth.

* * *

**Time for a new story as always each month. This is my first one-shot.**

**Like many, I always remembered this part from the Sword in the Stone. I felt bad for the poor little squirrel. She was a young little animal who was only doing what she thought was to attract a mate. She never meant harm and did save Arthur from the wolf. Even he felt bad as she never meant to hurt her.**

**I almost had a brief bit of the old lady squirrel's POV. However, I was convinced not to but I did add a brief glimpse at it.**

**I do not own the characters featured. Owned by Disney.**


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